


I am Iron Man

by Ari_mo



Series: Marvel universe [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorder, Happy! Daishou Suguru, Heavy Angst, Iron man! Kuroo Tetsurou, Pepper potts! Kozume Kenma, Sad, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29663673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ari_mo/pseuds/Ari_mo
Summary: Kuroo was capable of handling his mental health by himself. Yet he couldn’t keep on going like that. Dealing with that new situation on his own seemed impossible. He was carrying a deadly billion-dollar industry by himself. Everything seemed to be hanging by a thread. A thread named Kuroo Tetsuro. A thread that was about to snap.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Series: Marvel universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1781128
Kudos: 6





	I am Iron Man

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, I'm finally posting this one!
> 
> WARNING !!!  
> This story contains slight descriptions of vomiting, I don't think it's too graphic but if you suffer from severe emetophobia this story might not be suited for you.

Peace was a goal for every human being. It was beneficial to everyone. Really. A primal need passed through all humanity for some, a genetic purpose for others. A sense of self-preservation, driving the weaker ones to place themselves in the care of the stronger ones, the “Alphas”, the leaders. In other words, people like Kuroo. And everyone acted in a way or another towards that goal. Everybody. Even him, Kuroo Tetsuro, CEO of Kuroo Industries. Yes, his company aimed at world peace. He was aiming for the greater good.

Kuroo was about to open his sixth bottle of alcohol of the day. He contemplated the beverages his cabinet had to offer him. The choice was large but he settled for a Devil Spring Vodka. Facing a map of the conflicts shattering the world, he felt conflicted. There were so many red dots. Clusters in the Middle East potential ones forming in East Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa. Well, what part of the world wasn’t on the verge of breaking down?

On top of those red dots, blue ones, nearly as present on the map, marking his company’s presence in the world. His father would be proud of the growth of his firm and even prouder of his son. Yeah, of course, he would be. Due to the increasing tensions around the globe, their weapon production had increased exponentially in the past five years. They had made a lot of profit in the past decades but those numbers couldn’t compare to what’s Kuroo Industries was generating today.

To secure their leadership, the superpowers on top of the world were accumulating more weapons. An inflation that would sooner or later lead to devastating events. But wasn’t that just his job? Producing massive destruction weapons to bring peace to this world? He was the stronger one protecting the poor innocent citizens of Tokyo, Japan, Asia, and to a certain extent, the world. Well more or less.

He tried to assemble two pieces of microprocessor with shaky hands but quickly abandoned the idea, letting his robots deal with the job. He wanted to finish this before his deadline.

“3 hours till the press conference, sir.”

“Thanks, Hajime.”

It had been a month since his return from his captivity. A month since the world was waiting for him to speak on what happened. A month since he hasn’t stepped a foot outside of his lab. In the meantime, Kenma had done a great job dealing with the company and the press, allowing him to “get better” and giving him time to “recover. How the fuck was he supposed to recover from a terrorist attack? Therapy? Yeah, no thanks.

He really wasn’t ready for this interview; among other journalists, the annoying Mrs. Brown would be there and she was going to be absolutely ruthless. In normal circumstances, he would have loved to argue with her. There has been great tension between them in the past, and he had appreciated the nights they had spent together.

But all of that was in the past. Today, there wouldn’t be a sensual tension between them, only awkwardness and a puddle of puke if he kept drinking like that. He could already see the headlines of every magazine: “Kuroo Tetsuro the hypocrite of the century an interview about his billions dollars’ contracts with the cruelest leaders of this world” or something bigger, more sensational: “The billionaire who plays on two board. » Things could get even worse if the days of his captivity are brought up: “CEO of Kuroo industries gets a taste of his own medicine”.

“Your blood pressure has risen. Maybe letting go of the bottle would be a good idea, sir.”

Kuroo threw a nasty glare towards his computer, having forgotten his omnipresent AI. “Yeah, yeah! Thanks, Hajime!”

His clients faced each other on the battlefield, that was the whole point of the industry. His clients were at the end of the day governed by flawed people with multiple interests to fight for. Whether those were noble interests or not wasn't his problem. In a perfect world, every state would possess his weapons just as a dissuasion method, no one would end up using them and the world would be at peace.

His company might have dominated the industry and destroyed the competition but he still wasn’t the only culprit here. So no, he wasn’t hypocritical, he was just playing the game by the rules of the industry.

And if he was, how could they criticize him for that? He wasn’t responsible for the damages his products produced on populations, that was out of his control. The things he could control on the other hand were perfectly executed and regulated. His weapons were designed, produced, and assembled here, in Japan, not in the hands of innocent children in god-knows-where. The usage of his weapons was under strict regulation; their utilization was conditioned by several contracts.

He wasn’t a crazy man; he knew the danger of his product. But the dangerousness was the whole point of it, wasn’t it? A treat of violence to keep everyone from behaving? Right? And if a country didn’t respect their contract… Well, then the other countries would make great use of his weapons. His company was winning in every situation. It was the joy of international relationships.

Kuroo brought up to his mouth the bottle of alcohol, nearly spilling it all over his circuit boards. He was a good guy, that much he knew. He had morals and his professional activity wasn’t conflicting with that. Nor was the fact that he was in possession of the potential strongest weapon, his iron suit. A sharp pain in his chest made him throw up the last sip he just drank. He definitely wasn’t ready for this interview.

Kuroo hadn’t talked to Kenma about the shrapnel stuck in his chest. He didn’t talk about the armor either for that matter. He knew he could deal with them with the arc reactor, he just needed enough time to work on a new one that would perform at a higher level. His Iron suit was going to save him, change his life and the lives of others for the better. He just needed a bit more time to perfect that technology. He was so close, he knew it. He had spent too much time zoning out and drinking today but he should be able to finish everything today. He had less than three hours to put on the new reactor, do that press conference, go back to the position of CEO of Kuroo Industries and use that armor to tame the market.

“Sir, new data on your blood alcohol concentration: 0,10%, you’re well past being clinically intoxicated and your interview is in a few hours. Should I contact Mr. Kenma?”

“No Hajime, please don’t.” There was a slight panic in Kuroo’s voice. He didn’t want Kenma to see him like that. The horror on his friend’s face when he got off the plane, the hesitance when he held his face for the first time with shaky hands, his broken voice when he asked him about what happened. That, he would never be able to forget. Kenma had done so much for him since they were young, too much. And he kept helping him to this day. Kuroo didn’t need to inflict more pain on him, his friend didn’t need to see him in that state.

“Right sir.” Hajime seemed to hesitate before answering. Or was he? An emphatic artificial intelligence, yeah Kurro was either drunk or finally going crazy.

A drunk interview, he had done worse in his early twenties, and in all honesty, he didn’t feel that bad. In fact, aside from his striking chest pain and his drunkenness, he felt great. All he had to do was damage control, not talk about his newest most advanced invention, and hide the truth. There was nothing on earth he couldn’t do. Because despite his unfortunate experience, Kurro Tetsuro was a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and that was his only strength. No one would even try to deny the first three but the last one… Well, define philanthropist.

“A person who seeks to promote the welfare of others, driven by their love of the humankind-“

“Okay, Hajime I didn’t actually-“

“But you did ask out loud sir.”

Dammit. He was wasted, in pain, and stressed about that press conference.

“I’m going to have to remove the sass from your program. You really are a pain in the ass.”

“I could do it for you, sir.”

Oh, he was going to put a nasty virus on this ungrateful AI’s program. It was harder and harder to remember that the AI was in fact not sentient, just the most advanced deep learning program ever. “Iron man: fooled by his own creations”, he wasn’t going to make it through this day.

“This event is stressing you out. Nothing is forcing you to attend the press conference, sir.”

“You know I can’t avoid it Hajime.”

“If there is one thing that you can’t avoid, sir, it’s the truth.”

There it was, Hajime and his philosophical statements. Did he want to get philosophical and deep? Well then, here was his truth: at 4 years old he was able to build a circuit board, at 6 years old he perfected his first motor vehicle, at 17 years old he graduated from MIT and at 21 he became the chief executive of stark industries.

He was a genius but despite all of those achievements, Kurro felt empty. Hajime was right he couldn’t avoid the truth. He was miserable and his life was falling apart, his mass-produced weapons were slipping out of his control and creating unrepairable damages, around the world.

He had refused to receive any help for his drinking problem, and he certainly won’t see anyone to talk about “the struggle that was his captivity”, thank you very much. Kuroo was capable of handling his mental health by himself. Yet he couldn’t keep on going like that. Dealing with that new situation on his own seemed impossible. He was carrying a deadly billion-dollar industry by himself. Everything seemed to be hanging by a thread. A thread named Kuroo Tetsuro. A thread that was about to snap.

“Sir, I sense a rise-

“Hajime. Am I a hypocrite?”

“Well, are you hiding the truth… perhaps your truth, behind something you’re not? Do you hold beliefs that are inconsistent with your actions? Or, are the consequences of your actions not aligned with your beliefs? I think you know your truth.”

Shit. Spot on.

Well yeah, perhaps he was a hypocrite, hiding his guilty past behind a new invention. The same way he used to hide every single one of his problems behind improved weapons. Saving people on one side with this revolutionary suit and keeping on selling weapons that always ended up slipping out of his control on the other. All of that didn’t coordinate as well as he would have wanted to.

And here he was falling in the same patterns: thinking that the suit would help him compensate for his mistakes. He truly never learns.

Here was another truth: Kuroo industries were responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, he himself was responsible for all of those deaths, and playing the hero shouldn’t be his damage control device for Kuroo Industries. He couldn’t rationally go on and play along with the situation.

“You’re right Hajime, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, sir. Your car is waiting for you.”

He hadn’t finished his new arc reactor the new suit was far from being done but it was fine. He was going to be okay, Kuroo was done hiding inside his house, done playing a character he was not. Today he would finally come to terms with who he was.

Kuroo was going to go out and tell the truth.

The outside, well for some reason Kuroo was expecting something big, incredible, and sensational for his first day outside, but it was a regular sunny afternoon in Malibu. For Kuroo stepping outside of his house was a great first step for him.

Outside the sky was clear and blue, welcoming him into his new resolution. The sun was warming his not-so-clean skin. He should have felt at least embarrassed, leaving his mansion with his face unshaved, but Kuroo was filled with a new energy. He felt ready to reveal his truth. However, this achievement would have been more enjoyable if he didn’t feel so sick.

Kuroo was stumbling on the driveway, slowly making his way to his car, already seeing his driver for the day. He wasn’t so surprised by the presence of the man who was grinning at him.

“I should have known Hajime would choose you for that job.” Daishou was waiting for him in front of one of his cars.

“Look at you, you look dashing.” There was fondness under the derision of Daishou’s words.

“Fuck you.” And so was there in Kuroo’s words. He will forever be grateful for his relationship with Daishou. That’s not something he would have said a few months ago, but today he could only be appreciative of all of his relationships. Out of everyone, Daishou was the one who kept their dynamic relatively similar (identical) to what it used to be. A constant in the mess that was his life.

He sat in the car and was about to close the door when he felt it. A spasm shook him and he threw up on the driveway. Daishou hurried out of the driver seat, swearing as he got to the other seat.

“Hey! are you okay? We can call Kenma he will take care of the press. You don’t have to deal with the-”

“No. I am fine.” He needed to go there, to take responsibility for his actions and tell the truth.

It took them a few minutes before finally starting the car again. They would be a bit late on their schedule but it was okay. Kuroo felt numb but not anxious anymore.

“I have been hiding for a month, Kenma and you have been very helpful but I’m tired of this, I need to get my voice back. I need to regain control over what I can, I won’t be moping about my existence anymore.” Daishou seemed slightly confused. Kuroo would be too if an unkempt guy that had spent weeks refusing to interact with the world suddenly burst out of his house looking crazy sick and ready to throw up again.

“Well, you’re not wrong-”

“Yeah, I’m not wrong. Wild concept but I’m actually right.” Daishou seemed to want to reply but didn’t do so. He helped Kuroo get in the passenger seat, refusing to look at him in the eyes.

They spent the rest of the ride in a strange silence. Uncomfortable for Daishou but not so much for Kuroo. He needed to focus, he had one goal right now : to end his nightmare. In a way, this experience had served as an epiphany, a waking call for all his wrongdoings. He didn’t know if he deserved what happened to him but if it was what life had in store for him then so be it, from now on he would accept whatever punishment he would have to face.

He was doing the right thing. For once he wasn’t thinking about money, progress, or his father, not even his comfort. Perhaps his comfort of mind in a sense, Kuroo wanted to redeem himself but more importantly to put a final point to this vicious cycle.

“Kuroo. We’re here.” Daishou’s call abruptly made him snap out of his thoughts.

They were in fact “here”. In the parking of a building owned by Kuroo Industries chosen for the press conference. They had a bit less than two hours to get ready. Just enough time for the skilled make-artists to save whatever was left of his natural charm and restore his image. As they entered the elevator, Daishou patted his back, something he would have never done in normal circumstances.

There were a lot of things that would have never happened under normal circumstances. Kuroo had spent most of the month avoiding thinking about “before” or the “past” or worst “the good old days”. He had avoided a lot of topics actually. He also didn’t like to think about anything remotely close to an interview. He had accepted the press conference on a whim and Kenma had promised to filter through the questions beforehand to not overwhelm him. But still, he couldn’t help the numbness that was making its way to the tip of his fingers.

“Here we go.” Daishou could have told him how sorry he was for him. How strong he must have been to go through all of that. But he didn’t. That was for the better.

Entering the building's hallway, Kuroo felt the first look licking his neck, the tension shifted. People were whispering, staring, and looking down as soon as he made eye contact with them. Kuroo felt definitely felt self-conscious about his appearance. He couldn’t even blame it on a wild party, everyone knew that those weren’t currently an option for him.

He needed to calm his nerves, those people were his employees, not the press. He still had time before having to deal with the real thing again.

An assistant handed him a folder filled with the questions of the press and a guideline to his prewritten answers. He could clearly see Kenma’s input in the corrections of those notes. It reassured him, Kenma was there, somewhere in the building, and after the conference, they would be able to spend even more time together.

Kuroo spent the rest of his time zoning out. He let the make-up team do their job has he slowly made peace with his decisions. He was making the right choices, the good ones that are challenging on the spot but ended up paying off in the future.

A woman came in giving instructions. Like an army, everyone frenetically moved backstage. That had always been funny to Kuroo, he was always so still in a room full of panicked people, scared of messing up in front of him. Now it was his turn to be scared. Daishou got up and lead him to the corridor. It was showtime.

He didn’t have time to spot Kenma among his team of publicists before entering the room of the press briefing. Immediately, it was chaos. Flashes upon flashes were burning his retina, triggering his nausea. Now wasn’t the time to pass out, he just had a few words to say and he would be done. Daishou helped him make his way up the small stage. And here he was, drunk, anxious, sick and so ready to finally let go of his past life.

It took a few minutes for the clicks to calm down. Damn those journalists were still the same bastards. Kuroo took a deep breath, composing himself, and finally started.

“Good afternoon everyone, thank you for coming to this press conference regarding Kuroo Industries. In the past month, I have been able to reflect on the consequences of our choices, actions.” Great, he wasn’t stuttering or shaking too much, everything was under control.

“Kuroo-san, what happened over there?” That wasn’t the point of this fucking interview. He needed to be brief and clear, not lose sight of why he was here. Kuroo was looking for Kenma but he couldn’t see him.

“Enough for me to realize that I was a part of an industry that couldn’t take accountability for its disastrous impact on the world.” A deep breath, a few words, and it would be the end. “Therefore, I am shutting down the weapon’s manufacture of Kuroo industries and. Thank you for your presence.”

If the flashes when he entered the room had made him dizzy, Kuroo was pretty sure he was now dead. Dead but free. Of course, he wasn’t technically out of trouble yet but he took the biggest step. He tried to make his way to the door but reporters were standing in the way and a cacophony of questions was echoing in the room. “Why”, “How and “What”. Daishou was at his right side helping him cross the room and yelled trying to cover the noise: “What the hell ?” Kuroo didn’t want to answer those questions. One did pierce through the room.

“running away from his responsibilities as soon as he admits the flaws of his company. Do you have anything to add to that statement Mr. Kuroo ?” Mrs. Brown asked.

He had rushed things. Realizing today, like struck by a lightning, the magnitude of his faults. He hadn’t thought about the after, he had just wanted to release the tension in his mind. Kuroo wasn't going to answer. He looked up at the door, ready to leave the stage and go back home but he froze. He did have something to add, the challenging truth that ended up paying off in the future.

“Yeah, I do.” The room was noiseless, except for a soft and calm voice.

“Kuroo.” Kenma was here, waiting in front of the double door, smiling at him, ready to leave the room with him.

Kenma never smiled at him, but right now he was. He wasn’t mad, or at least he didn’t seem to be mad. Kuroo was shutting down an entire part of the industry, ready to let go of his responsibilities as CEO, creating trouble for everyone working under him and probably creating the most stressful situation for his employees yet Kenma was smiling. A smile that meant ‘I will be there no matter what’. Now Kuroo was convinced of it. Kenma was there before, he was here now and he would be there after tonight.

“I am Iron Man.”

The flashes of the cameras were blinding, the noise was deafening and the ground was shaking. Movements, sounds, and lights were slowly crushing Kuroo’s relief. But the thing that shattered him was the sight of his friend. The smile on Kenma’s face faded, breaking Kuroo’s heart.

There was horror on Kenma’s face.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hoped you enjoyed it.
> 
> I apologize for the time it took me to post this one. I have Tumblr if you want to talk to me, I also posted fanart related to that series: ari-moonlight-0  
> Please leave a comment if you liked it or if you have any critics.


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